SynthesisBMJ open2019
Impact of informational and relational continuity for people with palliative care needs: a mixed methods rapid review.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Quality indicators for palliative care for older people: An umbrella review.Palliative medicine · 2026Pooled it
- What helps or hinders the communication of poor prognosis between secondary and primary care? A systematic review with narrative synthesis.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Pooled it
- Interventions to Prevent Potentially Avoidable Hospitalizations: A Mixed Methods Systematic Review.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- Continuity of Cancer Care and Collaboration Between Family Physicians and Oncologists: Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial.Annals of family medicineTrial
- Factors influencing the acceptability of remote multicomponent rehabilitation versus standard care following critical illness: a theory-informed qualitative study embedded within the iRehab trial.Journal of intensive care · 2026Article
- "We do what needs to be done": caregivers' experiences of healthcare and support for people with multiple long-term conditions in the last year of life.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- Communication during out-of-hours primary care contacts for people with a terminal illness: a scoping review.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Setting research priorities for palliative and end-of-life care: a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership Refresh.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Learning from end-of-life injectable medication patient safety incidents in the community: a mixed-methods analysis.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- Paediatric palliative care following hospital discharge: Prevalence and factors associated with non-continuity of palliative care for children with cancer in Busoga sub-region-eastern Uganda; A mixed methods study.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- General practitioners' relational familiarity with home-dwelling patients in the palliative phase: Basis - or bias - for individualised care.Palliative care and social practice · 2026Article
- Supporting homecare workers to provide palliative and end-of-life care: A scoping review of interventions and their implementation.Palliative care and social practice · 2026Article
- Influence of prior knowledge and experience on willingness to pay for home hospice services: a contingent valuation study.International journal of health economics and management · 2025Article
- 'People ring because they're frightened': findings from a realist evaluation on the impact of timely responsive care at home at the end of life.BMC palliative care · 2025Article
- Facilitating planned home death: A qualitative study on home care nurses' experiences of enablers and barriers.Journal of advanced nursing · 2025Article
- Informational continuity by skilled birth attendants during antenatal care in Lesotho.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2024Article
- Quality of Care for Latinx Children with Asthma: Associations with Language Concordance and Continuity of Care.Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFM · 2023Article
- Who cares for the carers? carerhelp: development and evaluation of an online resource to support the wellbeing of those caring for family members at the end of their life.BMC palliative care · 2023Review
- Developing and testing scales for home support service continuity (HSSC): cross-sectional studies in Canada and UK.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Association between continuity of care (COC), healthcare use and costs: what can we learn from claims data? A rapid review.BMC health services research · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo identify and synthesise existing literature exploring the impact of relational and informational continuity of care on preferred place of death, hospital admissions and satisfaction for palliative care patients in qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods literature.
designA mixed methods rapid review.
methodsPUBMED, PsychINFO, CINAHL were searched from June 2008 to June 2018 in order to identify original peer reviewed, primary qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods research exploring the impact of continuity of care for people receiving palliative care. Synthesis methods as outlined by the Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group were applied to qualitative studies while meta-analyses for quantitative data were planned. OUTCOMES: The impact of interventions designed to promote continuity of care for people receiving palliative care on the following outcomes was explored: achieving preferred place of death, satisfaction with care and avoidable hospital admissions.
results18 eligible papers were identified (11 qualitative, 6 quantitative and 1 mixed methods papers). In all, 1951 patients and 190 family caregivers were recruited across included studies. Meta-analyses were not possible due to heterogeneity in outcome measures and tools used. Two studies described positive impact on facilitating preferred place of death. Four described a reduction in avoidable hospital admissions. No negative impacts of interventions designed to promote continuity were reported. Patient satisfaction was not assessed in quantitative studies. Participants described a significant impact on their experiences as a result of the lack of informational and relational continuity.
conclusionsThis rapid review highlights the impact that continuity of care can have on the experiences of patients receiving palliative care. The evidence for the impact of continuity on place of death and hospital admissions is limited. Methods for enhancing, and recording continuity should be considered in the design and development of future healthcare interventions to support people receiving palliative care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.